Togo soccer team bus attacked in Angola; six hurt

Posted: Saturday, January 09, 2010

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LUANDA, Angola - Gunmen in an area plagued by separatist violence used machine guns to open fire Friday on a bus carrying Togo's national soccer team to a tournament in this southwest African country, wounding at least nine people including two players.

Some players said they wanted to pull out of the African Cup of Nations tournament following the violence, but an official in Angola said it would go ahead as planned.

Togo's bus in a convoy from Congo was six miles across the border in Angola when it came under fire. The bus driver died in the 30-minute ambush, according to Togo captain Emmanuel Adebayor, who was not hurt.

The wounded were taken to a hospital in Cabinda, and Portugal's state-run Lusa news agency said it received a communication from the region's main separatist group, FLEC, claiming to have carried out the attack.